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adjective

(of a textile) composed of fibres which have been dyed different colours before being woven.

‘The dots which are represented on the groundwork of the initial are worked in back stitching; these may be worked in scarlet ingrain cotton if desired.’

‘Aniline black for cotton was the first ingrain color, or dye developed directly on the fiber.’

‘these historical Ingrain dyes for cotton developed in the 1950's are now rarely used for solid-shade dyeing.’

Origin

Late Middle English (originally as engrain in the sense ‘dye with cochineal or in fast colours’): from en-, in- (as an intensifier) + the verb grain. The adjective is from in grain ‘fast-dyed’, from the old use of grain meaning ‘kermes, cochineal’.